


The Cubicle Next Door

by OccupationLove



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Funny, Lud is shy, M/M, Nepotism, Post-it Notes, awkward work situations, cubicles, overprotective prussia, passing notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:43:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccupationLove/pseuds/OccupationLove
Summary: Alfred just wants to know more about the person on the other side of the wall. And he's bored so why couldn't he pass notes?





	The Cubicle Next Door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realmzenith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realmzenith/gifts).



> For Realm  
> Hope you like it

They had to be sure, absolutely one-hundred percent sure, that their colleagues didn’t notice them. Not that they were ashamed of the predicament they were in, but well...they were ashamed of the predicament they were in. In their defense, however, who wouldn’t be embarrassed to have their personal notes mixed in with the work-related papers and turned in to their boss who had much too loud of a mouth to keep quiet. Of course, perhaps this was all Alfred’s fault as Ludwig had warned him months ago that they shouldn’t pass notes under the cubicle wall. He had suggested that whatever nonsense Alfred had to tell him (or ask him as the situation more often was) could wait until lunch in the break room; but, that had been before the notes had turned into terrible pick-up lines and doodles of hearts. 

That had started only as a simple attempt to fluster his cubicle neighbor enough that he would pick up the paper to avoid someone else seeing it. Alfred had been frustrated because Ludwig wouldn’t respond to any of his messages and if he was being honest he pushed the first flirt under the wall out of the malicious intent to bother the other. He hadn’t expected to get a response: "What does this mean?"

To be honest, Alfred didn’t know how to answer that. So, he sent back an honest answer (while avoiding his intent to embarrass Lud): "I just wanted your attention"

That message, however, did not get a response and Alfred was left to stare blankly at his paperwork, tapping his fingers, and occasionally glancing at the bottom of the wall in anticipation. Instead, at lunch, he was down an acquaintance (a silent one but still) and briefly saw Ludwig scurrying into the break room for a cup of coffee before leaving just as quickly. Alfred didn’t follow him, but when lunch was over Ludwig was in the boss’s office and did not return to his desk until the end of the workday. Alfred tried not to be paranoid about why. He tried not to question if he had gone too far. He tried not to think about how much he would hate it if he had scared his coworker away.

The next morning, Ludwig, despite usually being the first one to the office, was not at his desk. Alfred pulled a sticky note off of his own desk and wrote a quick message to stick on Ludwig’s computer screen:" I’m sorry. "

He hoped Ludwig would understand. Later, by some miracle, Alfred had finished the work he had been assigned for the day and was checking other information (being a productive worker unlike the majority of his career) when a bright yellow note slid under the wall: "What for?"

He drummed his fingers on his desk: "Flirting with you? That might’ve been inappropriate."

It took only seconds to get a response: 'I see. The workplace is most likely not the best place for that kind of behavior."

Alfred tried not to think too hard about that. Ludwig definitely didn’t mean he wanted Alfred to flirt with him outside of work. And Alfred had never even thought about being seriously interested in the other man (he was only trying to fluster him the day before, he promised); so, he wrote back: "You know me, I’m not so great at following the rules. Anyway, I said sorry and that’s behind us now. Will you answer my questions now?"

Several minutes later, Ludwig had not pushed the note back for him and he assumed that the conversation was over. ‘Great, he just wanted an apology and now it’s back to this boring routine’ Alfred thought; but then right as he started to turn back toward his computer a flash of all kinds of neon colors came under the wall. It took him longer than he’d like to admit to realize that it was a compilation of some of the notes that had disappeared on Ludwig’s side of the partition. What was more was that they were stacked on top of each other in the order they were asked.

"What’s your name?" "Ludwig Beilschmidt" 

"How old are you?" "23"

"What’s your favorite color?" "Green"

"Coke or Pepsi?" "Coffee"

"What do you do with your free time?" "Read."

"Are you ever going to respond to these notes?" ~~Probably not~~ "I am now I suppose."

"Ludwig, that’s your name, right? Why do you spend so much time with the boss?" "Nepotism"

<3 <3 "Are you a bank loan? Cause you’ve got my interest." ~~I not sure that I~~ ~~I don’t know~~ "I’m (a scribbled out disaster followed the word) not a bank loan."

Alfred stared at the mess that was the last note. He wondered what Ludwig had written under the incomprehensible mess of scribbles. However, his curiosity was overpowered by the excitement he felt at having all his questions answered. He wanted to write a coherent series of responses but instead, he found himself writing "You’re so young" before shoving it under the wall again and watching intently for a response. 

"Am I?"

"Well no not really I’m only a couple years older than you. I turned 25 last month."

"I turn 24 in October"

"Oh! Not so young after all!"

"You never answered your own questions."

"My name is Alfred Jones! I’m 25, my favorite color is red, Coke, watch movies, I never had a problem responding to the notes, What does nepotism mean?, I am not a bank loan either."

"Don’t worry about the nepotism."

"What? Ludwig! You can’t say it and then ignore me! I’ll search it on Google!"

Alfred shoved the note back under the wall and then pulled up his internet browser and searching the unknown word. That, however, did not help him understand.

(Nepotism- favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship)

So he was related to the boss? But they looked nothing alike and Alfred knew for a fact that the boss was not old enough to be Ludwig’s father.

"He’s my older brother"

Alfred stared at the note for nearly an entire minute.

"Like by blood?"

"Yes."

"You don’t look alike"

"I know"

"You’re more attractive than he is."

He had pushed the note under the wall again before he had thought about what he was saying. He hadn’t meant to flirt with Ludwig again and judging by the last time he didn’t think it would be very well received. The next few minutes Alfred caught himself nervously (he just didn’t want to scare his new friend away that’s all) watching the spot where the note would reappear. Eventually, the bright blue post-it slid back into Alfred’s field of vision; however, that was also the moment that Gilbert came around the opening of his cubicle, “Have you finished those reports I need?”

Alfred shoved the note instinctively under some papers, “Um...yeah. Do you need them right now?”

He nodded looking bored, “Yeah, I ran out of shit to do so I figured I’d come and get it to add to my pile. That it?”

Alfred looked back at the papers on his desk, heart-rate slowly calming as he realized that he hadn’t been caught passing notes with his boss’s younger brother like some delinquent high school kid, “Yeah.”

Gilbert held out his hand and Alfred, without thinking about it passed the papers over. It was only after Gil left and Alfred turned back around to read Ludwig’s response when he realized that it had been in the stack of papers he just gave to his boss. The note...the one that said Ludwig was more attractive than Gilbert...was in Gilbert’s hands.

So, that’s how Ludwig and Alfred found themselves discreetly watching their boss’s office door in the hope that they’d have an opening. At one point, the white-haired man stood and stretched before walking out of his office toward the break room. Ludwig had calmly proceeded to make his way to his brother’s office (it wasn’t like it was an abnormal occurrence that he was inside) to retrieve the note. However, it didn’t seem as if he was having any luck. Alfred was about to stand to distract Gilbert when the white-haired man looked through the glass and saw his brother. He grinned before holding up a hand with a bright blue sticky note stuck to it, “Sorry boys! If you’re gonna pass love notes like babies, you’re gonna have to be sneakier than that. Also, Alfred, I am offended. Not majorly because I’ve heard this information before but I for one think I am a very attractive man thank you very much.”

Ludwig’s face paled and muttering began circulating through the office. Alfred felt terrible. He did not like this turn of events in the slightest.

The rest of the workday was quiet and humiliating as he listened to his coworkers' poorly concealed theories on what had happened. Apparently, he and Ludwig had been secretly a couple for months and his colleagues knew because “they saw it in the way they looked at each other.” 

Yeah, right.

He passed another note to Ludwig: "I’m sorry"

He didn’t get a reply. When he was packing his bag to go home, Gilbert approached him, “Listen. I like you Jones and it doesn’t matter how much I like you I will never approve of or be happy with you hitting on my baby brother. So, knock it off. Get a room. Hell, just don’t do it in front of me. Be a better guy than that. I know I can’t control my brother’s life but that doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass for being annoying.”

“Actually-”

“Don’t tell me about the law like I care about what it says. I will kick your ass if you annoy me got it?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Now, as much as I want to burn this I think I’ve done enough tormenting Lud today.”

He shoved a bright blue paper into Alfred’s hands and made his way to the door where Ludwig was staring at the floor looking simultaneously dejected and embarrassed.

Alfred waited until they were both gone to look at the note.

~~Not as attractive as yo- I can’t tell if you’re flir- Are you-~~ "Thank you. But Gilbert wouldn’t appreciate that comment. You’re fairly cute, yourself."

Oh, this would be the start of something beautiful.


End file.
